A black widow spider is now sealed in a plastic container after Laurie Kaiser of Yarmouthport found the arachnid in a batch of California organic grapes she bought from Shaw's in South Yarmouth.

South Yarmouth woman discovers black widow in grapes

By KAREN JEFFREY

kjeffrey@capecodonline.com

November 16, 2012 - 2:00 AM

YARMOUTHPORT — As a veteran of four years in the Florida Panhandle, Laurie Kaiser doesn't get unnerved at the sight of a black widow spider.

But Thursday she had second thoughts after discovering an arachnid with the black widow's characteristic red hourglass mark on its abdomen in a package of red grapes she had bought at the Shaw's supermarket in South Yarmouth.

The bag had been in her refrigerator for nearly a week, during which time she and her husband had been eating the fruit. "I'd been opening the bag, snipping off a clump and closing the bag back up," Kaiser said.

"I washed each clump before we ate it. In fact, it was as I was getting ready to rinse off a clump last night (Wednesday) that I saw the spider," she said.

Kaiser captured the spider in a plastic container and was about to release it in her backyard when she saw the red mark often used to identify black widow spiders. She decided to take the spider back to the store.

"I figured they'd want to know. It's good to get the word out to remind people to inspect and wash their grapes before eating," Kaiser said. "I woke up (Thursday) morning thinking about some child reaching into a bag of unwashed grapes and getting bit by a spider."

Kaiser said the South Yarmouth Shaw's took the spider and the now-empty bag the grapes had come in and refunded her the purchase price.

"They really didn't have to do that — refund me the money. It was very nice of them," she said.

The store manager said he would notify the food producer about the spider, Kaiser said.

According to Larry Dapsis, entomologist with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, black widow spiders are found throughout the country, including Massachusetts and Cape Cod. "I've found a few in my house. I just let them free outdoors," he said.

Black widows are generally found outdoors in places such as woodpiles, under eaves or around fences and in places where debris has accumulated, Dapsis said. Generally speaking the black widow is shy, not aggressive, he said.

The bite of a black widow is venomous, but death from a black widow bite is rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Cape residents probably have more to fear from deer ticks than black widow spiders, Dapsis said.

Dapsis, who previously worked in the cranberry industry, said food producers and suppliers have programs in place in an attempt to prevent insects from hitchhiking from one area of the country to another.

"You can't prevent it 100 percent of the time," he said.

Shaw's will notify the supplier of the grapes about the incident, company spokesman Steven Sylvan said. He said he was not familiar with details of the South Yarmouth case, but he added it is company policy to replace or refund any item that displeases a customer.